December 2012 marked five years since adoption of the 2007 Community Plan. Since then, a variety of new planning initiatives, development projects, and changing trends have emerged that warrant consideration as part of regularly scheduled Plan maintenance, not the least of which is the Bridge Street Vision Process and Zoning Code amendment. The Plan recommends periodic amendments to maintain its accuracy and relevancy as the City’s primary policy document; Objective 6 in Chapter 10, states:
As a flexible and changing document, the Community Plan should be updated no less than every five years as a sufficient time frame to consider changing conditions that impact the Plan’s policies. Yearly updates and continued use of transportation, land use and fiscal models should be emphasized to ensure ongoing maintenance and consistency with policy direction contained within the Plan.As a flexible and changing document, the Community Plan should be updated no less than every five years as a sufficient time frame to consider changing conditions that impact the Plan’s policies. Yearly updates and continued use of transportation, land use and fiscal models should be emphasized to ensure ongoing maintenance and consistency with policy direction contained within the Plan.
Having reached the five-year anniversary of the Plan’s last update, this is an appropriate time to address a variety of out-dated items by formally amending the document. This project also provides an opportunity to create a web-based version of the Plan, allowing for more efficient and timely maintenance of content during future updates.